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Episode 11
Tiya’s wide eyes brimmed with tears, one drop finally sliding down her cheek.
“Saving the family without my brother… that’s like cream puffs without any cream!”
The tear hanging in her blazing eyes sparkled like shards of crystal.
For the first time, Winter saw something familiar in this eight-year-old child who had always felt like a stranger—
a stubbornness born from unwavering resolve.
Knowing he could not break that determination, Winter finally lowered himself to meet Tiya at eye level, as if in surrender.
Then he asked carefully, like panning gold from muddy water:
“Is one life—Rev’s life—worth more than the fate of an entire family?”
It didn’t sound like a test. It was a genuine question, asked because he truly didn’t know.
Frustrated, Tiya shouted her answer.
“What kind of question is that? Of course it is! Rev oppa is my family!”
Family. A bitter smile tugged at Winter’s lips.
“I see… But unlike you, family means less than a single snowflake to me. So I can’t quite understand your feelings… but…”
Pausing briefly in thought, Winter’s lips curved into a strange smile.
Because of the black veil hiding his face, Tiya couldn’t tell if it was self-mockery, genuine joy, or a sneer.
But the next words rendered that question meaningless.
“If you really want to save Rev Vladichev, there is one possible method.”
Tiya sniffled, curiosity and doubt flickering in her eyes.
“What is it?”
“If his high fever is because of the Fire Spirit, then you’ll need its natural opposite to counteract it.”
Opposite of fire…
“The Frost Spirit?”
A spark of realization flashed in Tiya’s mind.
Yes! If Rev oppa could subdue a Frost Spirit, its cold could neutralize the Fire Spirit’s heat!
“Of course, subduing more than one spirit requires extraordinary talent. But you see, the household—or more precisely, Rodion Vladichev—didn’t sit idle while Rev was dying.”
If Winter had thought of it, why wouldn’t Rodion have?
Spirit wielders who commanded more than one spirit were incredibly rare throughout history, but Rodion had staked everything on that faint possibility.
The problem was—
“Humans can’t choose which spirit answers the call. Even so, Rodion prepared the ritual, praying for a miracle, and performed it just before Rev’s final breath.”
Even knowing the outcome, Tiya’s chest tightened with suspense.
“The result was called a success. But Rev Vladichev still died. Do you know why?”
The answer was cruelly obvious.
“Because the Frost Spirit never came.”
“Exactly. So hoping it would appear again through a ritual is foolish. Another method is needed.”
“Another method?”
“Think carefully. There’s more than one way to become a Spirit Wielder.”
Besides summoning a spirit through a spirit stone… what else could there be?
Then it struck her.
“You mean… stealing a Spirit’s egg?”
“Correct.”
“B-but no one knows what kind of spirit will hatch from an egg. Unless…”
Unless someone had already seen the future.
Tiya lifted her tear-streaked face, eyes sparkling now with hope.
Winter’s lips curved in affirmation.
“Yes. I know where the egg of a Frost Spirit is.”
“Winter…!”
Overcome with emotion, Tiya leapt forward to hug him—only to crash to the ground.
Her knees slammed hard enough to make a loud thud, but she didn’t even feel the pain.
Winter sat beside her as she lay there, cheeks flushed red with excitement.
“But don’t celebrate yet. There’s still one problem.”
Tiya didn’t flinch. She simply nodded, certain that any obstacle could be overcome together with Winter.
“Spirit eggs are so rare that they only appear on the black market once in a blue moon. Do you know why?”
“Because they’re really, really, really—really hard to find?”
“That, and because collecting one requires a mage.”
A mage?
Tiya straightened up slowly, rubbing her aching knees, tilting her head in confusion.
She’d heard of mages before, of course, but had never felt the slightest interest in them.
“Oh—those weaklings who wave around wooden sticks?”
……
Winter’s jaw tightened.
Then, in the darkest tone she had ever heard from him, he muttered:
“…You’re going to regret saying that.”
Tiya would only learn what he meant much later.
The Next Day
For the first time since arriving in the capital, Tiya went out on an excursion.
Her personal maid, Mia, had planned the perfect tour, covering all the city’s most famous sights.
But there was one thing Mia hadn’t anticipated…
“Are you sure you like that rock? There are so many prettier and shinier ones.”
“It’s not just a rock. It’s a piece of a shooting star!”
Such was Tiya’s peculiar taste.
Her lap was piled with crude stones she had bought from market stalls, gleefully calling them meteor fragments.
Mia, watching her polish the rough stones with a silk handkerchief, could only sigh.
The stones didn’t shine at all; only the expensive handkerchief was fraying to shreds.
Just then, Tiya’s gaze shifted to the window.
Outside, under the brilliant sunlight, the headquarters of the Mage’s Guild gleamed like a jewel.
Tiya could not take her eyes off the building, gleaming in pure white.
“Are you… interested in magicians?”
“…I became interested since yesterday.”
It was true that magicians were figures children of her age often admired, but Mia had never thought her young lady would share that fascination.
Mia, who had passed the notoriously difficult employment interview of the Vladijev household, was far more knowledgeable about Spirit Masters than ordinary people.
Thanks to that, she at least knew one thing—Spirit Masters and magicians were fundamentally incompatible.
‘What was it again…? Oh, right. Spirits hate magic, don’t they?’
That, they said, was why the Vladijev estate had no magician in residence, unlike most noble houses that kept at least one.
“Do you know a lot about magicians, Mia?”
“Of course. Believe it or not, when I was little, I dreamed of becoming one.”
Magicians were a staple in children’s fairy tales.
Chosen by the stars, they soared through the sky, crafted loyal golems, and enriched the world with wonders.
Of course, Mia could never say this to her young lady, but in terms of fame, magicians far outshone Spirit Masters.
Both were rare talents, but in the Capital—where nature’s power was weaker than in the North—Spirit Masters were harder to encounter, and, more importantly, magicians contributed far more to society.
Magical tools reserved for nobility, enchanted potions, and the protective wards shielding the vaults of banks—all were the work of magicians.
But now, looking back as an adult…
“To put it simply, they’re chosen eccentrics.”
Most magicians turned out to be social misfits, mad scientists obsessed with research, or reclusive hermits who would have seizures at the sight of sunlight.
“That’s why I think Spirit Masters are much cooler.”
Mia was sure her closing line was perfect.
“Eccentrics… So magicians really are…”
Yet for some reason, her young lady’s face looked unbearably gloomy.
